I'm returning to the caravanning world after about 14 years hiatus. Previously I never bothered with insurance as the van was a hand-me-down from family and was 20+ years old when it was passed down. So, caravan insurance is all new to me.
However, the van that I'm buying now is a 2014 caravan worth £10k. So I am going to protect my investment with some insurance. Looking at the insurance options I've been quoted about £100 for "market value" insurance and about £300 for "new for old" insurance. This particular insurer will insure vans up to 15 years old on a "new for old" basis.
I'm tempted by the "new for old" policy because, if I understand it correctly, if my current van is stolen and not recovered or is damaged beyond economical repair, then the insurers will pay out up to the value of a brand new equivalent model (which in my case the 2025 model of my van is £33,399). Obviously for the "new for old" policy I need to insure my van based on the value of the latest model, rather than the price I paid for the 2014 van, and so the premium is higher. But even over the next 4 years, the total I'll pay in premiums will only be £1,200. Which seems like a really good deal should the worst happen and I need to claim for a total loss.
The "new for old" policy seems too good to be true. And I have a very dim view of insurance companies, I believe they will try and weasel out of paying out wherever possible. So, my question to you good people is...
- Have any of you had any experience of having to make a total loss claim against a "new for old" policy?
- What were the circumstances that lead to your claim?
- What was your experience like with the claim process?
- Did the insurers pay out? If not, why not?
Grateful for any experiences you can share that may help me with this decision.
Must admit to never hearing of a new for old policy that covers that age of van.
------------- XVI yes?
As well is two words!
How does a sage know everything about everything? or does he? or does he just think he does?
Remember, if you buy something you bought it, not brought it.
Not answering directly as I don’t have the relevant experience. But maybe also check what each insurer requires to minimise the risk of theft. With an our car / Motorhome, the premium is cheaper if it’s in a garage / private drive rather than at the roadside. We also reduced our premium a bit by having a steering wheel lock & similar caravan security measures may also reduce your premium.
That Old for New insurance premium sounds quite cheap (too cheap?), in the region of my 'market value' cover for a 2016 van, but only AFTER a LOT of discounts which bring it down to a mere fraction of base premium price, including max NCB discount, secure storage discount, specified high security locks discount, alarm discount etc. etc. all bringing significant reductions.
You won't have NCB yet, but may have got discounts in the quote if you agreed to some of the things that get me a reduced premium.
Look VERY carefully at the small print, there will likely be a lot of clauses that may cost you in other outlay, like top quality 'approved' locks, a few hundred pounds easily spent there, secure storage to certain standards, that can be into the thousands each year, acceptable alarm fitted, that can be hundreds, and with ongoing subscription fees for trackers, etc. etc.
Things like secure storage on rated sites are not cheap, and finding a space can be like hen's teeth in some areas, many good sites having substantial waiting lists! What is the situation if you have got a quoted discount, but cannot immediately get on a site?
At 11 years old and £10k value the van is approaching the time where they devalue very little year on year, may even increase in value if demand is high, so market value is not such a hit as it would be on a much newer van that will devalue £k in first few years!
I'd be intrigued by what limitations the insurer puts on the new for old cover! Your old van will be long out of production, so impossible to replace like for like, so what terms apply to a modern 'equivalent' at well over 3x the value of yours! I'm extremely sceptical with insurers and always look for the catches, and that massive difference in value looks to me like an area likely riddle with get out clauses!
As well is two words!
How does a sage know everything about everything? or does he? or does he just think he does?
Remember, if you buy something you bought it, not brought it.
Well only quotes from comparison sites so far. But when Specifying details I have been very clear about the (limited) security features of the van and storage location. In reality i will have significantly more security in place than i have declared to the insurance company. But even with the limited security I've declared the premium is still only £320 based on new for old value of £33.4k.
Bailey still make the Unicorn Cadiz and in fact the spec doesn't really look much different (USB sockets, bigger fridge and Bluetooth stereo), so don't think they'd be able to wriggle out if it on the grounds of "no modern equivalent".
I'll be sure to read the small print before i take out a policy. Still be interested to hear other's experiences of having to make claims under new for old policies, and how successful/painful their claims were.
We have always had new for old insurance, they insure new for old until the van is 15 years old as long as it is serviced each year.
We remember to check the value of the new equivalent of our van each year as that is the amount you will need to insure for. They base your policy on the price of replacing your van with the new version but the catch is you need to know the value of the replacement.
I always add a couple of thousand onto the value for awnings, motormovers etc, TV, Chairs, other equipment can go on an extended contents home policy.
Price for us usually falls between £340 and £400 our old van was more expensive to insure than the one we have now.
I have never had to claim (touch wood). We mostly go with Caravan guard being a member on here gets you an extra percentage off the cost, we also get extra discount for Tyron bands, 3 locks 2 of which are their required standard.
I do find the company easy to deal with, People on the Swift group who have made a claim seem happy with the service they have received. Trust pilot has good reviews
I do occasionally search their reviews by claim and it seems promising.
I should add we were impressed with them during covid when we were unabled to get our van serviced for 18months. We called caravan guard and they made a note and confirmed our policy was still valid because we had notified them of the servicing issues.
We had a total loss claim on our new for old policy many years ago (possibly 2012). We were insured at the time through the Camping and Caravanning Club. They were great. They sent someone to look at the caravan within a few days of the accident in the November, confirmed it was a write off and made arrangements with our local dealer for a brand new replacement. We got the new caravan in the February but the wait between November and February was nothing to do with the insurance, that was just how long it took for the dealer to get the new model in from the manufacturer.
I really couldn’t believe how good they were. I kept thinking that somewhere along the line, someone was going to tell us that we had to pay something for the new caravan but it simply turned up at the dealers one day, they phoned us, and two days later we were off on a February half term holiday in it.
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Topic: "new for old" or "market value" insurance
via mobile 11/6/2025 at 2:09pm
